CS:GO betting strategy

Updated 21st November 2021

CS:GO Betting - The Basics

Each round of a CS:GO match starts with a 15 second buy phase, where teams have a fixed budget to buy their equipment - weapons and utility items like grenades or defusal kit. The budget is based on the outcome of the previous round, this key advantage or disadvantage influences the dynamics of the following rounds.

To ensure balance in the game, the losing team receives a bonus but to give you an idea how important the economy is in Counter Strike, the maximum prize for winning a round is $3,600. Yet the cost of a Counter Terrorist rifler is $7,200, and a whooping $8,850 for a CT sniper. This underlines why the economy is so important in Counter Strike, especially on the CT side which is the more expensive one.

There are many strategies to handle economy, like eco rounds - which mean the players won’t buy or buy very little, to save some money for the next round. Most likely the team is giving up the round to play the next one fully equipped, but sometimes this is a great opportunity to upset the enemy and win with basic pistols. If the next round odds don’t properly reflect the chances of an eco round, that represents great betting value.

Sometimes a team may utilise a half-buy strategy which usually means some upgrade over the basic weapons, but you buy to leave yourself with $2000-$2500 in the bank for the next round, to be able to fully buy in the next round. All of this should be incorporated into your betting strategy for CS:GO.

Of course the enemy team is aware of their opponents economy struggles, so there are strategies to play rounds named “anti-eco” which means the team usually try to play SMGs which give a higher income per kill.

Those are the basics of economy in CS:GO, though the strategy implications are far more complex. Many times it depends on the situation on the map, like chasing enemies while your economy is healthy, or saving the weapons letting the round go to the opposing team to be able to play a full buy in the next round.

CS:GO Betting Strategy: Maps

Another key element to Counter Strike are the maps, which dictate the field of play and extremely important in terms of betting strategy. There are always seven active pool maps, which get changed from time to time. In the current meta the maps are: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Nuke, Train and Vertigo.

Each team usually plays six maps, but there are teams who play all of them. Of course teams are stronger or weaker on certain maps. You may well ask why teams would train on six maps when there are seven in the map-pool? This is because each “Best of 3” pro game of CS starts with a ban phase, in which teams are each allowed to ban one map from the map pool, which won’t be played.

This way teams avoid the one map they don’t want to play on - hence training on six out of a possible seven. It is followed by the pick phase in which the teams are able to pick a map they want to play on, then it is followed by another ban phase in which teams remove one map each, and the leftover map is the map for the optional over time.

This is creating another strategic opportunity for the teams, like banning their weakest map and picking the strongest available, the chance to surprise the opponent with picking a map you never play on; there are huge number of possibilities which what makes the game so fascinating.

Follow these guides to start betting with Cloudbet today

1. How to create an account
2. How to deposit bitcoin into your account
3. How to start betting with bitcoin

The Importance of the Coach & IGL

Game strategy is usually determined by the Coach and the in game leader (IGL), those two guys make the calls in game. But the coach is able to communicate with the team, only during tactical breaks, he can’t talk with the team during the rounds.

The most strategies involve using utility items (grenades). These consist of:

• High explosive grenades which inflicts damage
• Flashbang grenade which blinds the enemy
• Smoke grenade which smokes an area
• Molotov grenade which covers an area in fire

All of them are used for strategic purposes, and give a very big advantage for the team using them. Of course there are a lot of strategies around utility usage. Like clearing positions with A Molotov Grenade, smoking key positions, countering the enemies utility with their own utility, or running down the opposition utility with fake pushes, to push when the enemies don't have grenades available anymore.

Utility usage and strategy in each round is very complex and it usually varies a lot each round, when teams opt for a slow approach, or a straight down open attack.

Utility usage and strategy in each round is very complex and it usually varies a lot each round, when teams opt for a slow approach, or a straight down open attack.

CS:GO & Game Theory

In addition to planning your own strategies there is a huge element of game theory to Counter Strike, which basically means second-guessing what the opponent will do. When this smoke lands in a certain place then what will the opposing team will do? When you can expect each team to be on eco rounds, and what impact does that have on the betting for that round? Conversely, plan when teams will have a full buy situation.

Playing by the standard scheme would make teams predictable, more and more Pro teams break the rules. Fnatic for example has been known to force buy on rounds which would usually be eco. So definitely you should expect everything each round!

CS:GO Comeback Scenarios

Betting on CS:GO is very exciting mainly because of the game dynamics, the situation can change a lot. Each map makes teams play on both sides - Terrorist and Counter-Terrorists. Some maps make it easier for the T side, some of them are easier on the CT side. This also adds a lot of dynamics to the game, and creates a lot of comeback scenarios.

One of the most incredible comebacks happened in the Quarter-finals of the 2019 ESL One Katowice Major, ENCE was losing 8-15 on Inferno, meaning Team Liquid needed just one round to secure the win. The Finnish team managed to equalize the score, and win the map in overtime, an absolutely crazy result which allowed the bettors to catch some incredibly high odds. An absolutely incredible achievement on a map picked by Team Liquid.

The Relevance of CS:GO format

CS:GO games are played either in BO1 or BO3 format. Best of 1 format means the teams will play only one map, and the winner takes it all, this format usually allows for some more upsets. The more rounds there are, the more likely it is that the better team will win, as it stretches the game and the major teams have a bigger map spectrum. Read this article on the role of luck in betting.

Betting on certain maps also helps to pick the winners, as there are teams that play incredibly good on some of them, a good example are Fnatic who are enjoying a 100% win ratio on Dust2 in the last 3 months (as of time of publication). The key here is to do your research.

Cloudbet offer Over/Under 2.5 maps and Correct Scores in BO3 series for CS:GO. With teams always picking one of the maps they feel strong on, betting over 2.5 or 2-1 score seems tempting, but given the game theory and strategy elements above, it could be that the Under offers value, with square money on the Over.

Betting on specials for Round 1 and Round 16 is also a very interesting market, as there are some teams with pistol rounds specialists. Both of those rounds are the starting rounds on T or CT side meaning both teams have the same equipment so the emphasis is on skills. Teams like Na’Vi therefore have a big advantage with a player like S1mple.

CS:GO betting currently available

To see the CS:GO events currently available navigate to the Sportsbook and pick the CS:GO game you are interested in. Most of the games offer special markets to bet on, and a live stream, so you can follow the event live! Allowing you to catch some awesome odds on live bets, and feel the emotions of the game.

p>While Coronavirus is affecting CS GO events, and offline events aren’t taking place, there are still events going online. Here is a selection of the awesome CS:GO events available for betting now at Cloudbet with bitcoin:

ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe (Until April 12)

Featuring all the best teams like Astralis, Na’Vi, fnatic, G2, FaZe, NiP and many many many more. Bet now.

Follow all the updates, dates on events Liquipedia:

https://liquipedia.net/counter...

Flashpoint 1 (Until April 19)
Featuring teams like MIBR, Cloud9, Dignitas and more. Bet now.

Follow the updates on Flashpoint tournament Liquipedia:

https://liquipedia.net/counter...

ESL One Rio de Jainero 2020 (April 26)
A major CS:GO tournament with a whooping 1 Million Dollar prize pool! Its is planned for May 16th, and it will be preceded with a series of Minor rank qualifier tournaments, which will start April 26th. Major tournaments in CS GO are the most anticipated, and highest ranked tournaments of the year, they are like the Champions League of eSports.

Follow the events calendar on: https://liquipedia.net/counter...

Betting on CS:GO with bitcoin

Betting on CS:GO with bitcoin at Cloudbet is super easy, you can deposit the cryptocurrencies straight from your crypto wallet or you can simply buy crypto using Moonpay through your user panel, and pay with your credit card.

Though Cloudbet is changing with the addition of our new Beta platform, our amazing new customer Welcome Bonus stays the same. Claim a 100% match on your first deposit up to 5 BTC/ETH or BCH.